Kingdom Hearts 3:Absent Souls
by musiclover2399
Summary: The story continues as the familiar heroes learn about the soul through new friends and enemies, old friends and enemies, an evil keyblader, traveling in Disney worlds, and discovery. The standard pairings later with scattered original characters.
1. Destiny Islands

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Kingdom Hearts franchise or any of it's characters and encourage support of the official release.**

**This is basically a story about what I imagined KH3 might look like written down. It's just a start for now.

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**Kingdom Hearts 3:Absent Souls**

Riku had a look of enjoyment, Kairi had a look of worry, and Sora's face only expressed concentration. The three island friends were reading a message from the king of Disney Castle, Mickey Mouse himself. The paper was still almost crisp and the ink wasn't even completely dry, but the words seemed to say something that was old to Sora by now.

"_Fellas, I wish I could be writing this to only say hello, but we might have another problem on our hands again. It seems that while Chip and Dale were updating some maps for gummi ship use, they noticed that The World That Never Was has been showing some strange activity again. We suspect that Maleficent might have something to do with it. We we're hoping you guys could come by to talk about this. A gummi ship is already on its way. It should be there the day after you get this._

_Yours truly,_

_King Mickey_

"Maleficent again?" said Sora with an almost annoyed look. "She just doesn't know when to quit."

"Yeah, but we could kick her butt again, no problem" said Riku as he stared out to the ocean for a moment. The fleeting sun seemed to be a boost of confidence; like a deadline for their stay. "It's actually kind of an excuse to travel again." Riku wasn't looking to get even with Maleficent; he just wasn't ready to face everyone yet like he had hoped he could.

"You guys just got back, I really can't believe that this might be happening again," said a concerned Kairi. She began to look at the fleeting sun herself. It was like a reminder that their time was already going to cut short after about a week home.

"Yeah, but we've dealt with her before. Plus we're stronger than the last time we really fought her, this should be no problem," Sora said confidently. Another voice in his head seemed to simply say yeah in agreement. He noticed that Kairi didn't seem totally assured, still looking at the sun setting. He saw it as a reminder that things weren't completely done, but soon would be. "…I'm sorry," he said as his demeanor changed from a grin to a solemn stare. Riku opened his mouth to respond, but waited after seeing Kairi lift her head up.

"Well take me with you guys this time!" Kairi said with the same expression.

"Kairi, that might not be the best idea," Riku said almost instantly.

"Yeah, we're talking about other worlds where we got along because of friends and pure strength only sometimes. If anything happened to you…" Sora trailed off while looking away. He hit a wall of doubt thinking about the future without Kairi.

"Sora, don't you think I worry too? I'm going to at least Disney Castle with you guys," Kairi responded. She looked at the two of them with brighter eyes. "I have too." Riku and Sora looked at each other. There was no stopping her from changing her mind.

"Do you still have that keyblade of yours?"

"I think so..." she started. She held out her hand, concentrated hard, and her flowery weapon appeared in a flash.

***

That night, Sora knew that things were going to be different all over again in his household. He lay down on his bed in his room and pondered. It was the same exact simple house with his parents and little sister inside, but a few differences that he was sad he missed. He was sad he missed the house getting new curtains, he was said he missed everyone's birthdays while he slept, he was sad his sister Sherri got taller as she became ten years old, and he was sad he didn't really say goodbye. He was touched the most by the fact that his room was left exactly the same for when he would come back.

His coming was nothing short of exciting. All of his family members hugged him like Donald and Goofy did, actually knocking him over. His mother and sister cried and his dad looked like a piece of him finally returned. As they clamored about him, he didn't care because he had been ready for it. He only cared that they cared.

He told them every story and detailed as many magical moments as he could during the week that he was there. His family always reacted as if they were there when they heard the stories and were filled with pride. Now it was time to add to the ending. He sat up, left his room, and found his way to his living room to tell them the news.

"Guys," Sora said while scanning his family's faces, "I'm leaving again." They all lacked immediate expression.

"No, you can't leave again…" his mother said in a frenzied tone. After looking at her husband and daughter with squinted eyes and saw they were anxious as well, she continued. "Why this time?"

"Remember that Maleficent witch I told you guys about?" His family nodded. "She's not done yet."

"But Sora, do they really need you to leave again?" his father questioned.

"It looks like it. I know I can help too, so I should as the keyblade's chosen one," Sora said as he gripped his hand and the silver keyblade exploded from light in his grip. The blade acted as a reminder that the moment was real to his family. His sister started tearing up.

"Sora, you can't just leave again," Sherri stared at everyone in the room. "What if I need help with my homework?"

"Sherri, you've been doing fine with mom and dad, and I promise I'll be back. It can't take more than a few weeks."

"Sora, we really don't know…" his mother stated as she looked to him with uncertainty.

"It's what I have to do," Sora stated simply.

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**I realize it's a little short, but like I mentioned before, it's my first fanfic and just a start. All reviews are welcome.**


	2. Disney Castle

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Kingdom Hearts franchise or any of it's characters and encourage support of the official release.**

**This is basically a story about what I imagined KH3 might look like written down.**

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**Kingdom Hearts 3:Absent Souls**

The three friends sat on the beach, looking out into the ocean. The sun was in the middle of the sky indicating it was noon. The three had gotten there about an hour earlier. They avoided sitting by the paopu tree to get a better view of the sky. Sora and Riku sat on their backs looking up, waiting for the shadow of a gummi ship as Kairi examined a few seashells. She placed a few in her pockets as the shadow finally came. Sora and Riku immediately stood up along with Kairi as the ship descended about ten feet away from them. Running around to the side, the three saw a pair of familiar faces.

"Sora! Riku! Kairi!" shouted Donald with a smile.

"It's great to see you guys again!" continued Goofy, with his typical smile.

"Donald! Goofy! It's great to see you guys again!" Sora cried as he climbed into the gummi ship followed closely by Riku and Kairi who were both smirking. Donald gestured Sora towards the pilot seat-which he happily responded to.

"Let's go! To Disney Castle!" Donald said with excitement.

"Has the king mentioned anything else to you guys?" asked Sora as he adjusted a few things.

"Nope, he just said to get you guys and go." Goofy answered. "All we know is that he thinks it could be Maleficent who's causing some strange activity. Ready to go?"

"Yep!" Sora excitedly responded.

"Hey Sora, make sure we don't crash taking off," joked Riku. Donald and Kairi laughed while Goofy hyucked at the comment.

"Very funny," retorted Sora with a look of playful annoyance. "Is everyone else good to go?" The crew nodded in agreement and Sora began the take off. As the ship started levitating up, Sora, Kairi, and Riku all looked out to get a good look. Sora steered the ship towards their main island a bit and sure enough, their families were standing by the beach. They could see them waving and shouting a few indistinct things before the ship finally really took off into space's ocean.

"_It must be nice having a family,_" said a voice in Sora's head as the ship was still leaving the world.

Sora spoke back mentally. "_You know, they're your family too._"

"_How do you figure?_" asked a curious sounding Roxas.

"_Well they're connected to me and I am to you. We're all connected. Plus I think my parents kind of wanted another kid._" Sora smiled while laughing inside his head. When Kairi saw this, she had an idea of what was going on in that head of his.

After a moment, Roxas finally responded, "_Thanks Sora_."

***

As the quintet started to walk around the hangar after landing, Donald noticed how Riku and Kairi were staring all over with curious eyes. "Welcome to the castle, where king Mickey and his royal staff, including yours truly, live," Donald stated with his eyes closed and in a proud tone. He led the group forward and was followed by Riku and Goofy walking side by side, and Sora and Kairi doing the same.

"Queen Minnie and Daisy live here too of course," Goofy added. With a smile he continued, "They're the king's and Donald's special somebodies". Sora, in the back with Kairi, instinctively looked towards her. She was still looking around, but seemed to sense him looking at her. She turned her head and caught him, to which he gave a surprised smile. She simply returned the smile. The two both heard light giggles in their heads as they looked forward again.

The group walked through the garden and found their way to the castle library. It was expansive as ever, but piles of books were laid out on the study desk, blocking the person behind them from view. They could hear the shuffling of pages. As all looked at each other, the group was clearly excited.

"Your majesty! We've returned!" announced Donald.

"We've brought the gang too!" Goofy stated loudly. With this, the king suddenly stopped turning pages and revealed his short figure as he walked around his desk.

"Fellas! You've made it!" Mickey said happily.

"Of course you majesty! What's up?" Sora asked.

"Well like I explained in my letter, there's been some strange activity in The World That Never Was." Mickey said, his tone growing noticeably more serious.

"What constitutes strange activity?" asked Riku.

"Well the whole place always had a strong aura of darkness, but it was natural and in peace. Although for a few days now, the whole place seems to be concentrating its darkness in the castle. It occurred to me that we left Maleficent and Pete alone at the end of our last adventure, promising the castle if they helped us. I think they're been plotting something more sinister though. I think they want to take this castle as an extension of their revenge."

"We could take them though, we've dealt with them before," Sora said coolly.

"Yeah!" Donald and Goofy added in agreement.

"So we just need to head over there and keep them in check?" Kairi asked.

"That's what it looks like for now," Mickey said with some confidence.

"That sounds almost too simple," said Riku. His tone made Sora curious, as it sounded sarcastic, but almost authentic too.

"What were you lookin' up now anyway your majesty?" asked Goofy.

"Oh, I was doing a bit of research on the soul, believe it or not." Mickey said with a half-smile.

"The soul?" asked a curious Donald. Just then, what looked similar to a heartless shadow appeared in the room, then scurried out the door. Everyone's eyes followed the creature in shock.

"Guys, lets go!" Sora said after a moment. He led the group out of the library and into the courtyard where there were many multiples of what looked like heartless shadows, neoshadows, and soldiers danced around. What was distinctive about them though, was that they all seemed to be colored charcoal rather than the flat black.

"Oh no! I had a feeling… Fellas, I'll be right back!" With that, the Mickey rushed into his throne room. As he left, the group turned their attention back to the creatures infesting the garden and ran out to meet them. They all quickly manifested their weapons and started charging. Everyone started hacking away and defeating the beings, occasionally using magic, with Donald doing the reverse.

Immediately after getting within five feet of the creatures, Sora and Kairi both felt strange pulses, but ignored them and fought. After only about a minute though, Roxas and Naminé appeared out of nowhere. Stunned at their own appearances, the two looked at each other, then at Sora and Kairi who were just as confused.

"Look out!" Naminé said as she pointed at the oncoming creatures. It seemed that the fallen were being quickly replaced. Sora and Kairi went back to going forward, hacking away at the strange things.

"Naminé! Stay behind me!" Roxas said as he quickly took a stance in front of Naminé and summoned his Oathkeeper and Oblivion keyblades. A few creatures tried attacking and he made short work of them too, all the while protecting Naminé.

After the group continued to keep the numbers down, there was a bright flash of light and the remaining fizzled away. "Heartless you think?" asked Donald.

"They sure looked like them," responded Goofy. He, Donald, and Riku looked over to where Sora and Kairi were standing with their nobodies and jumped at the sight. They quickly ran over to see what was up.

"Roxas?" asked Sora.

"Naminé?" asked Kairi.

"How did you guys become separate again?" asked a bewildered Sora.

"I have no idea. One instant, I'm looking _through_ your eyes, the next I was looking _at_ you," said Roxas.

"The same thing happened with me," said Naminé. She bent over to feel the grass of the courtyard. "We're real again…" As she stood back up, she and Roxas started reversing between being solid and transparent.

"We better go see the king," interjected Riku. "He might need our help and might be able to explain things." Donald and Goofy nodded in agreement and the three immediately took off. Sora and Kairi nodded at each other in agreement.

Before moving again however, Naminé smiled and told Roxas, "Thank you for protecting me."

"Of course, it was no problem," Roxas said proudly. With that, Naminé got on her toes and kissed Roxas on the cheek. She smiled, he smiled and blushed, and Sora and Kairi mirrored their nobodies. They finally turned around and ran towards the throne room.

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**As you can see, the plot has officially begun moving. I also wanted to note that adding Sora's sister was for character depth and she may be important later (but not anytime soon). I hope you liked it!**


	3. Disney Castle cont

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Kingdom Hearts franchise or any of it's characters and encourage support of the official release.**

**This is basically a story about what I imagined KH3 might look like written down.**

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**Kingdom Hearts 3:Absent Souls**

Sora, Kairi, Roxas, and Naminé all caught up with the Riku, Donald, and Goofy at the entrance to the throne room and walked in together. At first glance, they noticed no one. After noticing that the entrance to the basement was open again however, the group started jogging towards the stairs. About halfway down the hall, they began to hear the clashing of metal coming into contact with metal and picked up the pace. They fervently ran down as Roxas and Naminé noticed their moments of transparency were starting to die down the closer they were to the room.

After reaching the bright room with the cornerstone and entrance to the Timeless River, the group saw that Minnie and Daisy were standing by the cornerstone while Mickey was fighting some enemy whom they did not recognize. He was about as tall as Leon, with messy and short brown hair. He wore tattered blue pants, plain black shoes, and a zipped up and tattered charcoal jacket. On the jacket was a white symbol on the back that seemed to look like a black circle with 8 white symmetrical spikes pointed out, with the non-diagonal spikes being slightly longer than the others. Most importantly however, was that he had a keyblade that looked exactly like the one Mickey was fighting him with.

As the group continued to advance, the man took notice of how he was clearly outmatched on his own. They got close enough to notice that his right eye was green, his left red, and they both seemed to be completely void of emotion. He turned to the king after letting his guard down and said with seemingly two voices, "I'll give Maleficent my best your majesty." With a wave of his hand, what looked like a portal to the dark realm appeared below him, but was strange in that it was white with streaks of navy and purple. He sank into it and the portal disappeared immediately.

"Who was that guy?" wondered Sora aloud. About that moment, he and Kairi felt pulses again, and Roxas and Naminé were gone permanently this time. Sora and Kairi looked at each other with equally confused faces.

"Oh my…" Queen Minnie said in simple shock.

"King Mickey," started Riku, "do you have any idea what's going on?"

"Well, it seems that things may not be as simple as we originally thought," stated a solemn Mickey. "I came into the throne room to make sure that maybe something hadn't gone wrong with the cornerstone when I saw that man you fellas just saw surrounded by a few of those things we saw. He immediately charged at me after seeing my keyblade, but eventually stopped so he could get down here."

"Those creatures seemed to have disappeared once the stairs were opened," explained Daisy.

"We think it took a little more exposure to get them to leave than it took the heartless. I'm sorry we couldn't do more to help," said Minnie with a look of regret.

"Aw shucks ladies, we don't blame you," said Mickey in a sympathetic tone.

"Yeah," agreed Donald. "That guy looked pretty tough."

"I only fought him for a little while before you guys came, but he really seemed to know what he was doing with that keyblade of his," king Mickey said with an air of surprise.

***

"You can't find The World That Never Was?" asked a bewildered Mickey. He was standing along with the rest of the group in the gummi hangar.

"No sir," replied a regretful Chip.

"It's gone, there's absolutely no activity in the area it was even in before!" explained Dale.

"Yeah, it really seems like nothing but empty space now."

"That's impossible!" exclaimed Donald.

"Do you guys think those weird things had something to do with it?" asked Kairi.

"They must be working with Maleficent, it's the only way something like this could happen," reasoned Riku.

"You guys, something else we've noticed is that a few close worlds have been becoming fuzzy and darker," said Chip in a worried tone.

"We're picking up two now that seem to have been hit kind of hard," said Dale as he examined a map-like screen."

"Our islands aren't one of them are they?" asked a worried Sora.

"No, they're worlds that I can't remember sending you guys off to," explained Dale. Sora, Kairi, and Riku collectively let out a relaxed breath, as they knew their homes were safe for at least the time being.

"So they're new worlds?" asked Sora.

"Sounds like an adventure," said Riku with a slight smirk. The group all looked at king Mickey after the comment, expecting some sort of guidance. He was staring at the floor, clearly deep in thought. After a few moments of slowly shaking his head, he finally spoke up again.

"I think I might know what those creatures were," stated the king.

***

Back at the library, the group gathered around as king Mickey opened a folder with Ansem's secret reports, along with a book that clearly was well aged. He flipped through the reports until he found the one he was specifically looking for, and then flipped through the book until he found the page he was looking for.

"A person is made of three things according to both old stories and Ansem's research, the Body, the Heart, and the Soul. I think those things we were fighting were the soul's equivalent of a heartless," explained king Mickey.

"Ya mean the darkness of people's souls?" asked Goofy.

"Precisely," confirmed Mickey.

"Wait, that's crazy!" said Sora. "How come we've never come in contact with them before?"

"It could be for any number of reasons, but I think that maybe they were born from all those nobodies you defeated and the ones that were destroyed after you guys defeated Xemnas. It also could be by someone's actions," finished king Mickey.

"Maleficent…" said a pondering Sora.

"So does that mean there are as many of them as there were heartless?" asked Kairi.

"It seems like there would only be as many of them as there were nobodies, and they're just the souls without the bodies, so it seems like the adventure might be shorter this time," king Mickey explained.

"Well that's good," said Sora with slight relief.

"Yeah! We'll kick their butts anyway!" assured Donald.

"But who do you think that fella was that had a keyblade? And why did Roxas and Naminé become separate again?" asked a still confused Goofy.

"I really don't know about either of those to be honest," said king Mickey, "but I think we'll find the answers by going forward."

"We'll all go," said Kairi in a sure and confident tone. Sora and Riku both looked at her but remained quiet. It was impossible to ignore that she held her own against the new enemy.

"I'm not so sure about that though, I don't want to leave the castle unattended. That strange keyblader might come back too," king Mickey said, expressing his concern. "I think I'll have to stay."

"But your majesty…" Donald began.

"I'm sorry Donald, but it's a possibility."

"Just makes sure to let us know if anything's up around here and we'll be back in a flash," Sora said.

"Thanks Sora, I'll be sure to let you guys know."

***

Like before, Sora started the launch sequence for the gummi ship. He fiddled with the controls as Riku and Kairi thought about the new enemies. Donald and Goofy sat in silence though as they thought about leaving their friends behind again. Although they knew they would be back, it was a short-lived return to home for them.

With the go ahead signal from Chip and Dale, the gummi ship blasted out of the hanger and into space once again.

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**Once again, much more of the plot has been exposed. New enemies and an evil keyblader/OC have begun making appearances as advertised. Predictably, the next chapter will be based in a Disney World. I have more than one world/movie in mind though, opinions are very welcome. Thanks for reading!**


	4. Paradise Falls

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Kingdom Hearts franchise or any of it's characters and encourage support of the official release.**

**This is basically a story about what I imagined KH3 might look like written down.**

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**Kingdom Hearts 3:Absent Souls**

"Hey guys, what's this next world like?" Sora asked into the communicator as the gummi ship was mere minutes from its destination.

"Well it seems pretty modern, but nothing especially out of the ordinary," responded Chip.

"Yeah, it has a dark aura but most of it's concentrated in one area only," added Dale. As soon as he said this, the ship's navigation system indicated that it had reached into the atmosphere and was ready to beam the group down. Donald and Goofy fiddled with the familiar controls, made sure everyone was ready, and beamed everyone down.

After being sent down, everyone noticed that they were in what looked like a kitchen. It was well kept, organized, and smelled like cleaning products. However, it also seemed like many things had been untouched for years and also smelled like prunes. The group casually looked around and seemed to pick up the faint sound of scolding. Donald noticed a window and decided to take a look.

"Huh?!" Donald exclaimed as he took a view. The others immediately came to his side to take a look and were amazed to see clouds. Not fully believing the site, Goofy stuck his head out the window to see if the situation was real. He looked down and saw that indeed, the house was not on any kind of support. He looked up and saw an equally surprising site; the house was being supported in the air by balloons!

"Fellas! We're in a flying house!" Goofy shouted. His revelation was met with incredibly confused looks. "The whole place is being lifted by balloons!" Goofy said, finishing his explanation.

"Who's there?!" yelled a grumpy voice. The group looked amongst themselves for guidance. Sora provided a start when he shrugged and began walking in the hall towards where the voice was coming from. The others followed with their weapons except for Kairi; she didn't feel a need either like Sora. They walked into what seemed like a living room where they saw two people. One was a short old man dressed in an old tweed suit, with very thick glasses, a cane for the elderly, and a very large head. The other was a little boy wearing what looked like a yellow uniform, had a large backpack of equipment, and was quite round.

"Hi, my name is Sora," he began, "and these are my friends, Kairi, Riku, Donald, and Goofy." Sora pointed at them in order as they all gave light waves with smiles.

"That's all fine and dandy, but what are you doing in my house?" asked the old man.

"We're here to fight some bad guys," Riku said in an almost smug tone.

"Yeah, we're just here to protect the world honestly," Kairi added.

"Really?!" asked the little boy. "Is that why you have those weird things?" He pointed to the drawn weapons of Riku, Donald, and Goofy.

"Uh, yeah…" Donald trailed off as the three dismissed their weapons, clearly seeing no threat. The old man examined them with a stern look as he slowly could tell from their auras that they didn't seem bad.

"Well what are you trying to protect this world from?" the old man asked with intensity.

"Some corrupted souls that are spreading out. We're not sure why they're going around, but we do know that they want to cause some damage," Sora explained. The old man grunted before continuing.

"Well if you want to help me keep my house in tact, that's fine by me. I'm flying to Paradise Falls to live there. The kid just decided to tag along I guess," he said, pointing his cane at the child. "My wife and I shared the dream, and now I'm making it happen."

"That's pretty romantic," Kairi said with a smile. "Is she here?"

"No, she's passed," the old man said in a hushed tone.

"Oh, I'm sorry," Kairi said with her smile reversed.

"It's all right, better late than never," the old man explained.

"You guys should come with us!" the little boy chimed in. "My name is Russell and this is Mr. Fredricksen. I might need some help taking the bus home afterwards anyways." The group looked amongst themselves then formed a huddle.

"You guys think this is a good idea?" Sora asked.

"Well they seem nice enough," Goofy responded.

"Yeah, we should make sure they see this through," Kairi said in agreement.

"You guys think that they would lead us to the concentrations of those bad guys?" Riku asked.

"It's worked before," Donald let him know. The five stood straight again.

"Yeah, we'll tag along," Sora announced. Just then, the entire house shook and then suddenly stopped. Everyone ran to the closest window and saw that they were on some type of rock bed. They couldn't see far, it was incredibly foggy.

"Well that's just great!" the old man yelled. "It must be because of those balloons we lost in the storm and the extra weight," he concluded. The five heroes immediately felt guilty and followed the old man and child to the porch.

"We're sorry," Sora said, speaking for the five. They got off the porch to see if it would help to no avail. The old man and the boy soon followed and lo and behold, the house began to float again, but just barely. Around the same time, the fog began to lift, revealing that they were standing on a massive cliff with a beautiful waterfall a few miles away.

"Paradise Falls!" the old man exclaimed.

"You mean this is it?" Donald asked.

"It's perfect timing that we came then!" concluded Goofy.

"But the house was supposed to be over there by the waterfall!" the old man explained. "I came all this way for nothing!"

"Mr. Fredricksen," started the little boy, "maybe we can pull your house over there since it can still float." The old man seemed to phase out the idea at first, but his face lit up when he realized he was right. The five heroes looked amongst themselves with mixed emotions, knowing that they should help.

***

The seven were pulling the house by its garden hose, making good time as Mr. Fredricksen explained the balloons would last only so long. They were walking through a very forest like part of the cliff, but had a compass to help keep them from being lost. Sora was at one end of the line of friends helping and was next to Kairi. He was trying extra hard to make things a bit easier on her, though mostly without thinking about it. They were making good time as a group and weren't having much difficulty as together it was simple enough. Russell had clearly started to lag though.

"Guys, do you mind if we stop? I have to go to the bathroom," he explained. He ran into the forest as the others sat and rested.

"I'm very thankful to you all," the old man said as he wiped sweat off of his forehead.

"Aw shucks, it's no problem," Goofy said with modesty.

"Yeah, we've had to do much more before," Donald explained.

"Here, have these at least," the old man said as he began handing out some energy bars. They all took them with gratitude and began eating them. While everyone else ate the bars relatively quickly, Sora waited. After a bit, he broke his in half and held it out to Kairi.

"Here, you look like you might need this," he said with a smile.

"Sora, you should eat it," Kairi responded with a smile.

"Trust me, I'm used to this kind of thing, it makes sense for you to have it." Kairi took the bar, getting the hint. In both of their heads they heard the voices of their nobodies say "Aw", in an honest tone in Kairi's head and in a playful tone in Sora's head. Riku saw it all and simply smiled.

"Hey Mr. Fredricksen!" called Russell. "Do Snipes have lots of different colored feathers?"

"What?" the old man said, not understanding, then remembering his made up animal. "Oh yes, like rainbows."

"Are they big too?"

"Yes, very big," the old man said, pleased with himself.

"Well I found the snipe!" Russell said, walking back into view being followed by an enormous bird with tiny wings, long legs, and feathers that looked like an explosion of color. The group was taken aback and immediately got to their feet. "He likes chocolate," Russell explained. It soon began playing with Russell and tossing him around playfully, showing no ill intentions. "Lets keep it!"

"Hmph," the old man grunted. "Lets just keep going." The group started walking again, but kept their eyes on the bird in amazement. Soon after, the group found themselves back in an area without vegetation, but lots of fog again too. The old man kept his eye on the compass and assured them they were going the right way. Every now and then however, there seemed to be a shuffling noise.

"Is somebody there?" Riku finally asked.

"I can smell you!" a voice responded.

"You can…smell us?" Sora asked. Just then, a dog came out of the fog and started sniffing all the members of the group. It stopped with Russell as he began petting it.

"I wonder whose dog it is?" questioned Goofy aloud.

"I found the bird!" the mysterious voice said again. What seemed impossible though was that the voice seemed to come from the dog itself.

"Did that dog just talk?" asked an amazed Mr. Fredricksen.

"It was me speaking, yes!" the dog happily responded. "My master gave me this collar because he is a very smart master."

"That's incredible," Sora said as he examined the collar and noticed that did indeed have a speaker.

"Thank you! My name is Dug! I need to bring this bird back to my master for he wishes to find it. Please be my prisoner! Please please please!" Dug pleaded.

"Fine, have him," the old man said as he began the trek again.

"Mr. Fredricksen we have to keep Dug too though! He's a talking dog!" Russell said, trying to convince him to let Dug come along. Mr. Fredricksen thought for a moment.

"Who's your master anyway?" he finally asked.

"Charles Muntz, but I like you better. Will you be my master?" Dug asked.

"_The_ Charles Muntz?" the old man asked.

"Yes master!" Dug responded.

"I am not your master!" The rest couldn't help but laugh at the silly exchange.

"Can you take us to him?" Mr. Fredricksen asked with a childhood dream suddenly renewed.

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**In case you haven't seen the movie, the movie this chapter (and the next) is based on is "Up". If you haven't seen it I highly recommend it. I figured since this is my interpretation of KH3, it would make sense that Sora and co. helped move along the plot as if they were in the movie itself, like in the first two games. **

**I honestly rewatched it today mostly to be able to write this chapter well; I'm that dedicated haha. Any other worlds you'd like to see? Let me know in the comments. I really hoped you like it, thanks for reading and thanks to those who review!**


	5. Paradise Falls cont

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Kingdom Hearts franchise or any of it's characters and encourage support of the official release.**

**This is basically a story about what I imagined KH3 might look like written down.**

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**Kingdom Hearts 3:Absent Souls**

As Dug led the group to a cavernous opening not far off from the waterfall close to the edge of Paradise Falls, the five heroes all seemed to start to get a bit antsy, though none were sure of why. When they finally reached their destination, they saw that inside the cavern was a large silver blimp with "Spirit of Adventure" painted onto the side. Still pulling the house, they stopped in front of a walkway inside. At the same time, Sora and Kairi both felt soft pulses, causing the two to clutch their hearts.

"What's wrong?" asked Riku.

"Just… _that_ feeling, you know?" explained Sora.

"Do you mean it might not be safe?" asked Russell. "We should hide Kevin then!" Before anyone could object, Russell quickly led the giant bird, which he decided to call Kevin, inside of Mr. Fredricksen's house by throwing some chocolate through the front door. Despite protests from Dug, as he wanted to bring in Kevin too, the group finally went inside of the blimp. The interior was like a museum. It was full of ancient looking fossils, weapons that looked hundreds of years old, and even scattered pieces of art.

"Master Muntz!" Dug called while the others still observed. "I have brought some guests!" With that, a door opened from much down a hallway out of the museum room and out stepped a slender old man with a scowl on his face. He wore what a pilot would wear in the 50's, and even had a helmet with goggles, despite the blimp having windshields.

"May I help you?" Muntz said in a suspicious tone.

"Charles Muntz!" burst Mr. Fredricksen. Muntz looked more confused than suspicious now. "The great explorer himself?"

"Why, yes; that's me," Muntz said with a smile on. "And you all are?"

"That's Sora, Donald, Goofy, Kairi, Riku, and Russell," Mr. Fredricksen explained, pointing them all out. "And I'm Carl Fredricksen, your biggest fan!"

"Oh, I'm sorry if I seemed a bit suspicious," started Muntz. "I'm always happy to meet a fan. Stay for some supper."

"Sounds great!" chimed in a hungry Donald. Muntz led the group to his dining chamber, where he had more dogs with collars like Dug waiting to take orders and bring them all food. They all sat and were all brought hot dogs to eat and said thank you as Muntz seemed to be more relieved than anything. As they happily ate, Mr. Fredricksen felt he had to get something answered.

"Mr. Muntz, how come you've disappeared from the states for so long?"

"Well," Muntz began, deep in thought, "you may have heard that I was seeking a large bird thought to be instinct. Everyone called me a fraud despite me telling the nonbelievers that the bones were fresh. I've been here, making sure I bring one back alive." He looked up at a large skeleton that they hadn't paid attention to. It looked eerily familiar.

"Hey, that looks like Kevin!" Russell said.

"Kevin?" asked an intrigued Muntz.

"Yeah, he's a giant bird that follows us, we have him…" Mr. Fredricksen stopped Russell short. The heroes looked amongst themselves nervously.

"Do you mean…?" Muntz started before looking out a window and indeed seeing the bird on the roof of the levitating house. "You know, I've heard a lot of interesting and fake stories about newcomers here. Someone making maps, a botanist seeking samples, a couple on their honeymoon. Never about a man fulfilling his wife dreams with a floating house though… I'd love to see how that one ends." Muntz had a devilish smile on his face.

"Gee Mr. Muntz, we weren't looking for the bird, we were just looking for some bad guys."

"Bad guys try to take what's not rightfully theirs," Muntz said with a malicious look. He snapped his fingers, as it was apparent his brain had snapped. Out of charcoal colored portals, creatures that looked like the heartless dogs appeared. Instead of having the heartless emblem however, they had that black circle with white spikes like on that keyblader's jacket. Everyone stood up immediately ready to either run or fight. Sora and Kairi felt the pulses again, though nothing happened yet.

"Guys, get out of here!" Sora shouted to Fredricksen and Russell. They did as told and started to run out, but were stopped by more of the dogs. Donald and Goofy started charging forward in front of Fredricksen and Russell to clear a path for them, which they followed outside. Sora, Kairi, and Riku took care of the few soul-born dogs remaining, and then turned their attention to Muntz.

"How were you able to summon those things?" asked an angered Riku.

"With some help," said what seemed to be two voices. A white portal with navy and violet streaks appeared and out stepped the evil keyblader. This time, Roxas and Naminé burst out of Sora and Kairi. The man snickered, his red and green eyes still seemingly unfazed by absolutely anything.

"Kairi, Naminé, head outside and see if they need help. The three of us will take care of this guy." Sora explained. The two hesitated, but then ran out.

"Who are you anyway?" asked Riku.

"My name is Archer, and I want you three gone," he stated simply. Muntz walked out with an evil look, leaving the room open to the four of them. Archer drew out his dark realm keyblade and took a stance. Sora and Riku took stances as well as Roxas summoned his two keyblades. "Nice trick," Archer commented. "Lets make it even." He proceeded to summon a second keyblade into his left hand. His right keyblade took the the shape of the oblivion, while his left took the shape of what looked like the oathkeeper, but it was solid black. It even seemed to be fuming a black aura.

Undeterred, the three took turns charging at him, mostly evenly matched. They would take turns crossing blades until one of them was hit. This simle pattern of having a numbers advantage continued until Archer was clearly being overwhelmed, not being able to handle all three. He suddenly yelled and blew all three of them back. As they all rose again, he started sinking again into a portal, panting. His eyes still seemed completely blank as he said, "Have fun with the absentsouls."

"Absentsouls… is that what they're called?" Sora questioned as the other two shrugged while panting. Roxas began to become transparent again and the three instinctively ran out the blimp. They saw Kairi, Donald, and Goofy all fighting off a few more of the dog-like absentsouls as Naminé, also conversing between solid and transparent, helped Fredricksen and Russell get the house moving again. The three heroes, who had just joined the fray, helped finish off the few remaining absentsouls, just as Roxas and Naminé disappeared once again.

"Is everyone okay?" Sora asked. They all nodded as they panted. Everyone seemed fine.

"We ran into that keyblader again," stated Riku. "He said his name was Archer."

"Archer?" Donald asked, clarifying the name.

"Yeah, he had two keyblades…" Sora said, thinking of what just took place.

"Two…?" Goofy asked, amazed. They fell silent as they all realized they still didn't have any real answers, besides what the creatures were called now.

"Mr. Fredricksen, lets get your house to that waterfall!" Russell suddenly stated, encouraged.

"Yeah!" Donald yelled in agreement.

"Are you sure?" Mr. Fredricksen asked, a bit in disbelief.

"We'd love to help," Kairi stated honestly. Fredricksen simply nodded and started tugging. The others soon joined him. It wasn't a far walk and it was easy as Kevin and Dug led the way. They finally reached the waterfall as the house finally stopped floating. Fredricksen went ahead inside and looked around. He almost seemed dissatisfied. The others joined him inside as he sat down on an old, square, rigid chair. He had grabbed what looked like a photo album with "My Adventure Book" written on it and started flipping through it. His dissatisfaction turned to pain as he flipped through the pages, knowing that his wife was gone and nothing had changed bringing the house. At the end of the book, however, there scribbled was "Thanks for the adventure, now go have a new one!" He was shocked to see it, and softly smiled.

"Russell, Sora, Donald, Goofy, Kairi, Riku, thank you all so much," Fredricksen said in a sad but firm tone.

"Just doing our jobs!" Sora said, speaking for the group.

"Yep! And now I can get my _assisting the elderly_ badge!" Russell said happily. Mr. Fredricksen simply laughed. There was a knock on the door that broke the aura. Fredricksen quickly stood up and mumbled in confusion as he went to answer it. On the other side of the door was Muntz, with a shotgun and an angry look on his face. The heroes got in the way and stood their ground, drawing out their magical weapons. Muntz let his guard down as Kevin and Dug started cawing and barking at him wildly, forcing him to step back in shock. He didn't look where he was going and ended up tripping backwards. He yelled as he suddenly fell back into the waterfall and plummeted down.

"Master! You're safe!" Dug said as he returned to a surprised Fredricksen. The two shared a happy moment, as his new master playfully scratched Dug. Soon after, Kevin started cawing loudly towards a ridge not too far.

"What's he doing?" asked Donald.

"She is calling to her babies," Dug explained.

"Kevin's…a girl?" Russell questioned out loud in shock. Kevin rubbed her beak against all of them and started walking off in the direction of her babies, looking back at one point to see them all waving.

"Russell, lets go home," Fredricksen said to the little boy.

"Are you coming with?" asked Russell.

"I am. It's time I started a new adventure," Fredricksen said, looking at his house. "Will you all need a ride?" Fredricksen jerked his head in the direction of the abandoned blimp with a smile.

"We're fine, thanks," Sora said.

"Yeah, we've got some other places to go," added Riku. Fredricksen smiled and bent on one knee to attach a grape soda bottle cap to Russell's satch of badges.

"For assisting the elderly performing above the call of duty," Fredricksen began, "The Ellie badge." Fredricksen attached the bottle cap with a clothespin and the heroes lightly clapped. Just then, a beam of shot from the pin and opened a keyhole in the sky. Sora did his usual maneuvers and shot light into the keyhole, assuring safety for the world.

"It's time for us to go for real," Sora stated.

"Will you visit us?" Russell asked.

"Sure, right guys?" The rest of the group happily agreed. They all shook hands one last time and were beamed back into the gummi ship, ready to embark on their next journey.

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**And so ends the Paradise Falls world saga. I obviously had to do edits for length, like how they do in the games themselves. For those who review and those who read, thank you! If you want to see a specific world, just tell me in the comments. All reviews are welcome.**


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